innovation

Palm Treo Pro and Satisfying User Needs

A few weeks ago I wrote an article about the new Palm Treo Pro, and I was fairly critical of the new smartphone. Why? Basically because I felt that it was good, but good isn't good enough in today's dynamic smartphone market. To delve a bit more deeply into this I thought it might be interesting to use the Kano model to examine this further.

The model, named after its inventor, Professor Noriaki Kano, provides a simple way to think about how products meet or exceed customer needs, and differentiate themselves against the competition.

The model consists of … Read more

Samsung Pixon 8-megapixel camera phone: Pixon, Pix-off

To us, the Samsung Pixon's name sounds like it was chosen to reflect the phone's camera capabilities, sounding something like a mix between "pictures" and "megapixels." And in any case, we like the name better than "Innov8", which Samsung chose for another 8-megapixel camera phone that it announced earlier this summer. You'll certainly be seeing this played up in the promotion, with a Web site dedicated to the adventures of one Nick Turpin, a professional street photographer let loose with the 8-megapixel-packing Pixon to see if a phone can truly challenge … Read more

Open-source Cleversafe earns a WSJ Technology Innovation Award

The Wall Street Journal has announced its 2008 Technology Innovation Awards. Among the heavyweights on the list - Salesforce, Applied Materials, GlaxoSmithKline, etc. - is open-source storage vendor, Cleversafe, a company that I've long followed and admired.

It's great to see Cleversafe getting its due credit, especially from a list of judges that includes the CTO of Agilent, EVP of Software at SAP, and more distinguished names.

Here's what caught the judges' eyes:

[Cleversafe's] Dispersed Storage software breaks files up into slices and then sends the slices over the Internet to multiple storage locations on a … Read more

Google sees energy solution in the math

Correction: This story originally misstated Schmidt's total energy savings projections. He said that the U.S. would save $2.1 trillion of $2.7 trillion.

SAN FRANCISCO--Google CEO Eric Schmidt outlined an energy plan Monday to reduce America's dependence on oil and create green jobs.

At an event called the Corporate EcoForum, Schmidt laid out Google's energy plan to sustainability executives from Coca-Cola, Motorola, Clorox, Microsoft, and dozens of others. In characteristic Schmidt-Google fashion, he backed up the idea with some calculations. The plan could be compared to something like energy efficiency = savings (or E2=$).

"It'… Read more

Author Estrin sees U.S. research as 'eroded,' 'unstable'

Unlike most first-time authors, Judy Estrin was guaranteed an audience from the moment she decided to put pen to paper.

With one of Silicon Valley's more renowned resumes, Estrin helped launch seven companies in a career spanning two and a half decades.

So it was that she decided to offer her own policy prescriptions on the myriad economic challenges facing the United States.

The problem with so many books of this genre is that most are boring beyond belief. It's hard to believe these same former executives forged successful careers by spouting the kind of mind-bending platitudes they … Read more

Quiet Canadian UAV looks to cash-in on DHS grants

Here's a three armed, six-rotor, unmanned helicopter nimble enough to fly indoors but tough enough to withstand winds of up to 18mph outdoors and, best of all, it doesn't sound like a log-chipper on crack.

The differential thrust from the Draganflyer X6's six rotors, arranged as three counter-rotating co-axial pairs mounted on the tip of each arm, is what makes for its zippy maneuver performance, according to Draganfly Innovations Inc. ( Videos) It's also what accounts for the stealthy sound output. While hovering, the X6 produces less than less than 60dB at 9 feet, according to the … Read more

The Obama SMS: (Un-)gratifying instantification

So the SMS went out to hundreds of thousands of Obama supporters. Not everyone got it at the same time (according to Textually.org, it took about 15 minutes for the bulk of the messages to get through the carriers' systems) or, in some cases, at all, but overall, the pre-announcement buzz (including some fake VP announcements -- "Michael Phelps!") was palpable and the word was spread.

"Be the first to know whom Barack picks as his running mate," had been the campaign's promise. The only problem: Those who had signed up to be the … Read more

IBM launches 'Green Sigma' business consulting

Big Blue has devised a consulting service to profit from corporate initiatives to "go green."

IBM on Monday detailed its "Green Sigma" consulting practice for reducing energy and water usage at businesses by using networked sensors and data analysis software.

It's based on the Lean Six Sigma management strategy that was originally designed to focus on operational efficiency and customer requirements.

The idea with Green Sigma is to do an accounting of a company's water and energy usage, both at its own facilities and also its supply chain partners. IBM is piloting the method … Read more

12-year-old's 'Water Watcher' nets top eco-prize

Those worried about the future of the planet needn't look much further than 12-year-old Elizabeth Rintels and friends for reassurance that young people aren't just aware of eco-challenges, they're putting their minds to solving them.

Rintels, of Keswick, Va., created a smart device designed to measure and monitor water usage in the shower. On Thursday, youth marketing and media company By Kids For Kids announced that her invention nabbed the grand prize in BKFK's "Going Green Challenge," which called on America's youth to come up with new eco-ideas for a changing world.

The … Read more